Promise of change was the premise by which Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States back in November.
In sharp contrast, continuity played a significant role as an underlying factor by which Dave Anderson was selected to succeed Doug Chickering as executive director of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) - an organization that oversees interscholastic athletic programs for 506 senior high schools and 116 junior high/middle level schools in its membership. In addition, it sponsors 25 championship tournament series.
Anderson, 55, became just the fifth executive director since the position was created in 1924. He officially began his new position on August 1 after serving the WIAA for the last 11 years and as deputy director since 2002. Anderson has focused on rules interpretation and enforcement and the administration of the football, wrestling and baseball tournaments. His other duties included licensing officials and guiding the medical advisory committee.
Before joining the WIAA, Anderson was the athletic director at Sun Prairie from 1991-1998. Prior to that, Anderson was a faculty member at D.C. Everest High School (Schofield, Wis.) from 1976-79 and served as head track and field coach and assistant football and basketball coach. In 1979, he was graduate assistant at the University of Wisconsin and worked under UW-Badger football coach Dave McClain. In 1981, Anderson joined the UW-Eau Claire football staff and was a physical education instructor. The next year, Anderson accepted the position of defensive coordinator and part-time physical education instructor at Montana State University. He then returned to Madison and was the defensive coordinator for the Badgers from 1983-86. From 1987-90, he was the defensive coordinator at Miami of Ohio University.
Anderson was a three-sport athlete at Kaukauna High School where he participated in football, basketball and track. He was all-state in football and state's player of the year in 1972. He went on to play football for the University of Wisconsin from 1972-76 and received the Ivan B. Williamson Award for academic and athletic excellence his senior year.
A plethora of words describes Anderson. First and foremost, there is nothing pretentious about him. Tall and fit, he strikes an imposing figure as someone who is athletic (see sidebar story) and not one to be messed with. But under his physical structure is a kind, caring and understanding individual who is also intelligent, articulate and outgoing. What completes the package is his humbleness and appreciation and respect of others.
By the same token, it's not wise to ruffle his feathers for he can be stern and forceful. But he's open-minded and will listen to opinions and arguments before analyzing comments and responding.
\All those traits obviously impressed the WIAA Board of Control in selecting Anderson as Chickering's replacement.
Anderson took time away from his busy first week as executive director to sit down at his new office in Stevens Point to share his thoughts and ideas on a number of issues.
Star: Did you ever envision yourself in this position?
Anderson: Off and on throughout the past 11 years the thought might come and go, quite honestly. All of time that I've been here, I've absolutely loved working with Doug (Chickering) because of the quality of the man, the type of friend and his quality of leadership. It (executive director) is not something I dwelled on until I made my final decision to apply.
Star: Is this your so-called dream job?
Anderson: This is a great job. I've said before that it's always been the people and the purpose that define the quality of any work experience, and I've said this many times before and I mean it. The people I work with in this office and the people I work with across the state, in our membership especially, along with those outside the membership such as the athletic trainers and doctors and others hinged with athletics, the people are as good as anyone you could hope to work with anywhere.
When you look at our purpose, which is to enhance learning opportunities that young people have available to them, it is to create settings and opportunities by which lifelong memories might be had, might be made. From that standpoint, combined with the history and rich traditions of this association, it's as good of a job as you could hope for.
Star: How will your present position (executive director) be different that your past position (deputy director)?
Anderson: Because I've just started this new position, it's sort of a difficult question. I certainly know what I won't have as much responsibility for. I won't be as directly involved in the sports I had before and I won't be so directly involved on a day-to-day basis on eligibility and compliance issues which really required enormous time during my term as deputy director. Now I am essentially responsible for the day-to-day of this office, of this staff and the business of the association. So I will have involvement in more areas, but not necessarily the same hands-on as what I've had before. I'm certainly responsible to represent the membership in the national federation and our interests, along with other bodies whether that be the legislature, the Department of Public Instruction or whatever. I'll also oversee the budget, making sure the contracts, insurance issues, employee benefits, state tournament venues and so forth are handled correctly.
All Doug said to me was: You're responsible! (said Anderson laughing).
Star: What do you perceive to be your primary challenges?
Anderson: There are internal as well as external challenges that I'm determined we will be successful with. My first concern is maintaining and enhancing the great people in this building. What a great staff and great people. Dedicated and hard working. Bright, quick, caring and quick intellectually. So my first concern is them, us, that we are an effective team or family - call it what you want. The second internal concern is that both I and we are able to build relationships and built trust and prosperous relationships with our Board of Control and our Board of Directors.
They have been the key leadership and they are appointed by the WIAA to run the schools' business. I'm their employee. You're hopeful that you will have great chemistry to do great things with that board. And so those are the two things internally that are most pressing at this point.
When you look externally, you can break it down by A-B-C or E-F-G, or you can lump it all together. Our greatest challenges are to make sure that during very, very trying times and during a period of parental changing, public perspective and attitude about athletics and competition that we are able to see that education based sports, and growth and learning opportunities through sports, continue to be available to our kids and grandchildren through the next 100 years.
It would be very easy for schools to throw up their hands in light of the economic and budget concerns and say it's not worth the headaches. But in that macro perspective, the big concern is to keep sports vital and available and to keep them connected to learning opportunities for young people.
Star: What are your thoughts/ideas regarding the public vs. private issue which some people feel is a hot, controversial topic?
Anderson: You tell me. We don't hear it as a big controversy very often. We get a handful of inquiries a year and it usually centers around boys basketball small divisions three. And we very seldom hear that from our members. My sense of this is that it is something that gives sports people something to write about or talk about.
Anderson said the argument some use claiming parochial schools recruit can be said of public schools also with the open enrollment policy. He continued by saying that singling out a certain segment of the WIAA membership and treats them differently could potentially change the landscape of Wisconsin high school sports forever, whether as legal intervention or legislative intervention.
"Even the term public versus private - I will not have a conversation that is mounted on that framework. I am happy to talk about competitive opportunities for all of our members and are we focusing on the right things in our tournament match-ups. The willingness to look at those things will not ever change. We will always strive to do things for the appropriate reasons and that opportunities are done in the right way.
We need to come to some decision about what we are doing with respect to divisional placement and competitive opportunity is the right model, or we need to identify what a new model might be. But it cannot be a model that singles out one segment of our membership and not the other.
When you talk about recruiting, open enrollment has to be figured into that. When you talk about recruiting we create an image much like you see or associate with colleges. It's not like that at all. It's not the high school coach stalking around. More often it's kids or parents saying, 'Golly, if we had that three-point shooter with my daughter's post play . . .' Because they are connected in summer programs and year round programs, along with the fact success attracts, it creates those types of situations.
I can't tell you the number of families that I had visit in the athletic director's office in Sun Prairie in the 90s when they won football after football and football championships. There were people on a weekly basis telling me, 'Well, we're thinking about moving into the area.' It (winning) attracts. Nobody called them.
Star: Is the football proposal (eliminating conferences and setting up eight districts) something you favor?
Anderson: "Yes, it is. On a personal level, I do support it. But understand that right now it is an idea. If we didn't change anything at all and had to go through this year and next year with the same rules that we have right now for high school football, it would still be pretty good. One of the important things to understand at this point is that it is an idea right now. It can be kicked this way and pinched and squeezed and nudged that way. It's a plan and an idea. What I like is that it puts teams with similar enrollments in competition against each other and should eliminate some of the arguments we've heard in recent years. This should match teams more comparably.
The single most appealing dimension of this plan, for me personally, is that we will get away from that end of season Thursday, Tuesday, Saturday - three games in nine or 10 days. Even though we've done it for 30 years, I like this better. Maybe with some area meetings the idea can even be made better.
The Star: Do you see the WIAA adding any additional sports in the near future?
Anderson: On that front it's been pretty quiet. I haven't fielded any requests and maybe it's reflective of the economic climate wondering how we can afford what we already have. I'm not saying no to whether there will ever be any additional sports, but there really hasn't been much discussion that has come to my ears. Might it come in lacrosse or bowling? Perhaps. But right now the members are glad in some parts of the state just to keep their schools open and doubly glad to be able to hang onto the sports they presently have.
The Star: What are your present and future goals as executive director?
Anderson: "I think I've already touched on that a bit. I don't think I've changed. Again, I said - people, purpose. That the people in this office go home at the end of the day and look forward to coming back the next day - like they have for Mr. Chickering. That this membership is well-served by our staff and what we do collectively continues to assure the opportunities are there and that we continue the WIAA's reputation on a state and national level. Those are quite broad goals, but they are quite real.
I've been warmly supported by our staff here and have received congratulations and much encouragement from a number of people. We will continue to do our best to advocate that there is nothing like the learning opportunities provided by athletics. We are connected to schools - learning establishments. The lessons that can be taught and learned when sports are done well, when sports are done right, in my experiences, are second to none.
There is no other curriculum that teaches what sports can teach. People and experiences teach and in my mind what sports teach is that it provides a safe environment to learn about failure. Ultimately there is only one state champion and everybody else loses. So at that moment of defeat, that moment of despair, or sometimes at that moment of humiliation, if we are lucky in the safe setting that schools sports provides, if we're lucky we have a loving, caring, educated coach that puts his or her hand around a kid any says 'Hang in there. We'll work on bending those knees tomorrow, follow through and you're going to make that shot 10 times over. Hang in there. Next season will be better.'
There's that potential about teaching young people about facing adversity and disappointment and failure in a very, very safe environment if you have a caring coach and loving parents. It can teach them real-life experiences. It's just a game. Did the sun come up today? Remember that. That's you lesson. As bad as you feel make sure you get up tomorrow morning and take on that new day.
In the real world when loved ones die, when marriages end, when dad or mom suddenly has lost their job and you're being evicted, now you're a grown-up and you're required to face those real-world disappointments and adversities.
What sports does is provide a vehicle for experiences - growth and learning experiences. Sports aren't the most important thing that goes on in schools. But so much of what goes on takes place from 7:30 to 3 o'clock and it takes place behind closed doors. There's something about the game and the community coming together and when we see good things happening it's really big windows into our schools and into our communities.
